The Team

Dave Galanis

Dave is founder and Managing Partner of Pebble Creek Partners LLC, a strategic consulting firm to growing companies, and the organizations that invest in them.

In the 6 years since Pebble Creek Partners was founded, Dave has provided management consulting and financial advisory services to scores of companies in the environmental, clean energy, and business-to-business services industries.  He has also served in numerous interim management positions including COO of The Novo Group, a nationwide recruiting solutions firm; and Assistant Treasurer for Waste Management, Inc., North America’s leading supplier of integrated waste solutions.  Dave is currently on the Board of Directors at Mahoney Environmental, one of the nation’s largest recycler of used fryer oil, grease trap material and other waste products.  He is also a member of the Board of Advisors for RexCon LLC, a leading manufacturer of concrete batch plants.

Dave has been a member of the Silicon Pastures Angel Investor group, a premier network of individuals who invest in early-stage high-tech companies and is an active member of Cornerstone Angels, a private investment organization seeking to provide financial capital and mentorship to early-stage companies in the greater Midwest.  In addition, Dave works with both The Clean Energy Trust and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC) to mentor start-up companies.

Dave was Senior Vice President and CFO of ATC Transportation, the recognized leader in providing outsourced transportation operations and management for over 60 municipal transit systems around the nation. Under Dave’s leadership, ATC implemented processes, systems and controls to make the transition from a privately owned organization to a division of a public company. Dave was instrumental in assisting National Express PLC, in the sale of the business to Veolia Transportation in 2005.

Mr. Galanis spent 3 years at Buntrock & Associates, assisting in the management of the investments of Dean L. Buntrock, founder and former Chairman of Waste Management, Inc. Prior to that, Dave spent 17 years at Waste Management, Inc. in various financial management capacities. As Director of Finance for Waste Management of North America, Dave was instrumental in implementing Stern Stewart’s EVA financial management and reporting system to the company. Dave assisted in taking Chemical Waste Management public, and lead the identification, negotiation, due diligence, and integration efforts in scores of acquisitions made by the company throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Dave is a graduate of Loyola University in Chicago, IL.

 

Mike Dempsey

Mike is a Managing Director with Pebble Creek Partners LLC, a strategic consulting firm to growing companies, and the organizations that invest in them.

Mike is located in the Denver area, and has held several senior level financial and operational positions in the environmental services and equipment rental industries.  In his 25+ years working for Fortune 500 companies he has developed specialties in strategic planning, market assessment/investment rationalization, econometric based forecasting and metric based management reporting.

Mr. Dempsey spent 18 years with Waste Management, Inc. in increasingly responsible financial management positions in their landfill gas to energy, recycling and solid waste operations.  While at Waste Management, Mike was integral to the development of the company’s landfill gas to energy joint venture with Caterpillar Financial, including the integration of alternative energy production tax credits into the company’s financial evaluation process.  In his senior field financial roles at Waste Management, Mike spearheaded the evaluation, due diligence and integration of numerous acquisitions in the Rocky Mountain region during the 1990s.  Following his tenure at Waste Management, Inc., Mr. Dempsey spent 5 years with Allied Waste (now Republic Waste) and 3 years at RSC Equipment Rental, a leader in the construction and industrial equipment rental business.  As Director of Finance for RSC he championed market rationalization processes for existing and new market investments to optimize portfolio performance and equipment utilization.

Mike graduated with honors from Northern Illinois University and holds both a bachelor’s degree in Finance and an MBA from NIU.

 

John Repke

John is a Managing Director with Pebble Creek Partners LLC,  a strategic consulting firm to growing companies, and the organizations that invest in them.

John has a broad range of skills and experience focused on all aspects of corporate financial management, as well as strategic planning and general management.

John is the former CFO of HAVI Global Logistics, a global logistics organization based in Duisburg Germany with operations and assets in over 40 countries and more than 7000 employees.  John was also the CFO and a partner in HAVI Group LP, a privately held, diversified global service company primarily involved in logistics, supply chain management, and marketing solutions.  John’s impact at HAVI extended beyond the full set of finance responsibilities to include strategic and operational management.  During his 11+ years at HAVI, the company grew substantially through organic expansion and acquisition.

Prior to HAVI, John spent 11 years at Waste Management Inc, a publicly held, global environmental services company.  In progressively responsible positions culminating in Senior Director – Finance & Planning, John led the strategic planning process, contributed to major international projects, worked on significant acquisitions, initiated risk management programs and implemented Stern Stewart’s EVA™ protocol.

John holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Denver and a B.S. in Finance from The Ohio State University.

 

Suzanne Stelmasek

Suzanne is a Policy Analyst with The Clean Energy Trust, and an Associate at Pebble Creek Partners LLC, a strategic consulting firm to growing companies, and the organizations that invest in them.

Suzanne  is a recent graduate of The George Washington University, with a Master’s Degree in Energy Policy.  Prior to her time in DC, she attended The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.

Suzanne specializes in renewable energy and sustainability projects, with an emphasis on cost-benefit and full life-cycle analyses.  She has served on the University of Illinois’ independent student newspaper, The Daily Illini, and developed a job-training program for the DC Office of Planning.  While in Washington, Suzanne worked as a member of the Public Policy team for a non-profit organization focused on expanding international education opportunities.

Her educational background includes strategic issues management, economics, statistics, budgeting, and policy evaluation.

 

Amy Fitzgerald

Amy works on Special Projects for Pebble Creek Partners LLC, a strategic consulting firm to growing companies, and the organizations that invest in them.

Prior to joining Pebble Creek Partners, Amy worked in the international economic development field for British regional development agencies.  As Vice President of Business Development for South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), she was tasked with attracting and assisting North American companies in establishing a presence in Southeast England.  Amy oversaw the agency’s largest territory within the United States, which included 26 states and covered all of the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.  Amy’s industry specializations included information communication technologies, homeland security, aerospace and defense, energy and environment, and life sciences, all of which required her to be well-versed in multiple disciplines.

Prior to her work at SEEDA, Amy represented a different region development agency in England.  Amy worked in Washington DC in public affairs and Government Relations for O’Neill &  Associates / Fleishman-Hillard focusing on International Trade.  Amy also has experience in the defense industry having worked as a defense contractor with SAIC.  Amy has also worked for elected officials in the US Congress and in the British Parliament.

Amy is a graduate of the Catholic University of America.  She recently earned a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame graduating cum laude.  In addition, Amy hold’s certifications in Sustainability Measurement and Reporting from Deloitte Center for Sustainability Performance and in Global Strategy from University of Illinois.

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Brian Conrad

Brian is the former IT Practice Director with Pebble Creek Partners LLC

Brian is Director, IT of Mahoney Environmental, a leading collector and recycling of used fryer oil, grease trap material and other food waste products.

 

 

 

Tom Riek

Tom is a former partner of Pebble Creek Partners, LLC.

Tom is Vice President of Recycling for Veolia Environmental Services Solid Waste, Inc. one of the largest solid waste companies in North America.